‘Eighteen feet, sir.’ ‘Right. Down periscope.’ Boyd was working furiously at his chart, laying off the bearings and courses and making notes of the orders given for future reference. All this would be gone through afterwards in ward room and cabin, and it was best to be well prepared. Up went the periscope again. The men in the control room guessed they were nearing the moment of attack and steadied themselves in readiness. ‘Bearing 170 deg. What’s her depth?’ ‘Sixteen feet, sir.’ ‘Keep her down, man. Don’t let her break surface. Down with her,’ said Raymond sharply. The coxswains worked frantically and took her down to twenty feet. Then up once more and the periscope raised a mere few inches. ‘Bearing 175 deg. Full fields. Stand by!’ shouted Raymond, and down came the periscope again. The motors eased down as the fields were increased by the torpedo ratings working at the motor-boards in the after compartment. Boyd dropped his notebook and stood by the firing gear. ‘Deflection’s twenty, sir,’ he said. ‘Open “stand by” valves,’ cried Seagrave. ‘Open the cocks on the firing line.’ A minute’s quick glance round, then ‘ready, sir.’ The periscope went up a few inches. Raymond was bending down almost on his back now in his efforts to show above water as little of his ‘look-stick’ as possible. ‘Port ten,’ he ordered. ‘Keep her at her depth. Steady the helm. Starboard five. Steady again.... Fire!’ Boyd wrenched down the firing levers, and the boat shuddered through all her frames as the torpedoes were hauled forward. There was a great soughing of air as the firing tanks recharged, the coxswains spun their wheels to counteract the loss of weight, and down came the periscope. ‘Eighty feet,’ said Raymond, rubbing his eyes. * * * * * The _Zero_ had turned her head out to sea for the second attack. Jenkins had carefully marked the spot where the submarine had dived and felt fairly confident of picking up the periscope a second time. Burton also was beginning to alter his opinion about the difficulty of spotting a periscope. Perhaps it was easier than he had thought it. True, he hadn’t seen it last time, but then he was looking out on the other side of the ship and couldn’t be expected to have picked it up. He crossed over to where the captain was standing. ‘How far are we going out, sir?’ he asked. ‘About the same distance, but we’ll keep her at this speed till we turn round for the run. Raymond wants to do some fancy work or other to train his crew.’ ‘Very good, sir. I expect he was pretty sick at missing us last time. He thinks he’s rather a knut at attacks, doesn’t he?’ ‘Oh, he doesn’t mind,’ laughed the other. ‘It won’t worry him, he’s one of the best. And don’t run away with the idea that he won’t get us, because his blood’s up now, and it would be hard to find a better submarine officer when he really means business. How does the lighthouse bear?’